Loose-leaf binder



May 5, 1953 c. H. LocKwooD LOOSE-LEAF BINDER SHEETS-SHEET l Filed OCb. 11, 1951 May 5, 1953 c. H. LocKwooD LOOSE-LEAF BINDER 2 Sl-IEETS--SHEET 2 Filed 001,. 11, 1951 in .un

n :arl: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn n. ,5.25 m l .m d w P M C INI/ENT f v :l

A fro/2 En Patented May 5, 1953 -1 OFFICE LOOSE-LEAF BINDER Charles Howard Lockwood, Atchison, Kans., assignor to The Lockwood Company, Inc., a corporation of Kansas Application October 11, 1951, Serial No. 250,843

1 Claim.

The present invention relates in general to large record books of the loose-leaf type, and it deals more particularly with ledgers of the kind employed, for example, in county recorders offices for the purpose of recording deeds, mortgages and the like.

In the course of normal use, such books are much handled (and sometimes mishandled) by persons examining the the records, so it is obvious they must be a very sturdy construction. Their pages must ce securely anchored to the cover and when one of the books is closed, it is desirable that its pages register accurately with one another` to form a block whose margins are smooth and uniform, since this materially increases the cleanliness and life ci the paper. If these were the only factors to be considered, it would be logical to use a permanently bound volume having pages sewed together and then sheared in a block before being placed in the binding, but for obvious reasons it also is important to be able to remove and insert a page at will.

An important object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a loose-leaf binder of the post type which, without sacricing any of the aforementioned advantages oi a permanently bound volume, will make it possible to remove and add pages as desired and, more than that, make it possible for even the most inexperienced, unskilled or careless clerk to effect such a change with speed and ease. The importance of the latter objective can be fully appreciated only if it is understood at the outset that conventional post binders require some patience and skill in order to align and iit the parts together correctly. Many clerks are notoriously lacking in these qualities and even those who are not, sometimes become hasty or careless in the press of their other duties with the inevitable result that they have difficulty in operating the binder mechanism-a difliculty which naturally increases with their rising irritation and exasperaticn.

The aim of the present invention is to obviate these difficulties. The binder I have provided always works correctly, for its mechanism makes it impossible to work in any other way, even under circumstances which in the case of conventional binders would give rise to problems of misalignment and maladjustment. Thus, regardless of the skill or temperament of the person handling the binder, it never ofiers trouble. In practice it never becomes necessary in any case` to withdraw the volume from service more than a brief instant in order to change the pages. The

work of the recording personnel therefore is materially speeded and their tempers are left unruiied.

Another object of my invention is to provide a loose-leaf binder in which all or any portion of 'the leaves can be removed and handled outside of the covers without any danger of their becoming disarranged. In this connection and also in connection with the problem of overcoming the misalignment diiculties that exist in conventional binders, an important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel auxiliary frame which remains associated with the leaves when they are removed from the binder but may quickly and easily be attached to the binder in order to secure the leaves therein.

Other objects and features of my invention, including the novel constructional details of my auxiliary frame and the arrangement for attaching and detaching same from the binder, will appear in the course oi the following description.

ln the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specication and are to be read in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals are employed to indicate like parts of the various views:

Fig. l is an end elevation of a loose-leaf binder embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the binder, parts being broken away for purposes of illustration, 5

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross section taken on the line d-li of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows, the front or top cover oi the binder being shown in slightly raised position,

Fig. 5 is a transverse cross section similar to that in Fig. 4 but showing the front cover unlatched from the upper leaf-retaining strip,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 4 in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 7 is a iragmentary plan view showing the latching elements in the same position as they occupy in Fig. 5,

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion of the binder in open position, and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of latching mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, my binder has a curved back l spanned by a pair of straps I2; and hinged to the back along its longitudinal edges are front and rear covers I4 and I6, as well as a pair of elongate tubular housings It and 2l), the latter being of generally rectangular cross section. As may best be seen in Fig. 3, the back, straps, covers and tubular housings have longitudinally staggered loops or eyes 22 through which pintles 24 are threaded to form along each edge of the back what is often referred to as a piano type hinge.

It will be understood that, at each hinge, the cover and the tubular housing may swing independently of one another about the pintle but one or more eyes of the cover mounting plates Ida and Ita are omitted to accommodate coiled springs 25 which urge the respective tubular housings against the adjoining cover plates. That is to say, unless otherwise restrained, each tubular housing will, under the influence of the spring, normally lie against the inside of its ad" joining cover plate as illustrated in the upper portion of Fig. 5; from the latter iigure it will be noted that the cover plate I4a forms with the thick board cover proper a marginal channel adapted to receive the tubular housing I 8 such that the exposed face of the housing is substan tially flush with the inside face oi the cover.

In each of the tubular housings there is an elongate axially slidable latching bar 2S, the purpose of which will be made clearer presently. Centrally located in the bar is a longitudinally elongated slot 28 through which a rivet 3G extends transversely, the ends of the latter being swaged or otherwise anchored in opposite slides of the tubular housing (see Figs. 2 and 3). The oar is normally maintained in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 by means of a coiled compression spring 32 disposed between the rivet and one end or the slot, but it may be advanced in the direction indicated by arrow 34 against the tension of the spring by pressing inwardly on the bentover tab 26a at the end of the bar.

The ller leaves or pages 36 for my binder are punched so they have aligned holes along one edge to receive the leaf-holding posts 38 and 40. Posts 38 are screw threadedly secured to a lower leaf-retaining angle member 42 so that they project upwardly through the stack of sheets, and posts 40 are secured in similar fashion to an upper leaf-retaining angle member 44 so that they project downwardly through the stack, it

being understood that the upwardly extending p posts are spaced between, or alternated with, the. downwardly extending posts. All of the posts on each angle member have at their free ends sockets 46 adapted to receive tapered centering pins 48, secured to the opposite angle member.

The leaf-retaining angle members 42 and 44 to. which the posts are secured comprise flat. metal strips that engage the top and bottom sheets of the stack along one margin, covering the holds punched in the sheets; each stripv has an integral perpendicular flange abutting the edges of approximately fifty ofv the outermostV sheets. The metal of which the angle strips are made. is relatively heavy so they are very rigid, strong and capable of effectively resisting not only forces tending to bend the strips, but also torsional forces tending to twist them about their own longitudinal axes; thus, the posts mounted on each strip are held rigidly in parallel relation to one another, with their axes xedly disposed in a predetermined plane parallel to the plane of the ilange abutting the edges of the sheets Each leaf-retaining strip carries av plurality of outwardly projecting fasteners or catch studs 50. When the binder is in condition for normal use, that is to say, in the normal bound book condition illustrated in Figs. 1-4, these studs project through apertures 52 in the wall of the tubu lar housing (I8, 20) and also through elongated slots 54 in the latch bars 26, their rounded heads being received in dimples 56 in the opposite wall of the tubular housing. As best seen in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, the beveled edges 54a of the slots in the latch bar comprise detents which enter grooves 50a in the studs under the iniuence of springs 32, so the bar and the tubular housing in which it is enclosed are firmly secured to the adjacent leaf-retaining strip, with the housing in face-to-face engagement therewith. In this condition the leaves or pages 33 impaled upon the posts are securely anchored to the back I0 of my binder through the medium oi" the latching bar assemblies, but either cover (I4 or I6) may of course be swung open as indicated in Fig. 4 for the purpose of making entries on any desired page or reading material previously written or printed on the sheets.

In order to release the bound sheets (as, for example, when it is desired to remove a page or insert a new page), it is most convenient to lay the binder on a table or other horizontal surface as shown in Fig. 4; having done this, it is only necessary to swing the front or top cover upwardly to its full open position and press inwardly on tab 26a of the latch bar 26. This slides the latch bar axially, disengaging the detents 54a from the notches 53a of the catch studs, whereupon, under the influence of springs 25, the tubular housing I8 will immediately snap around on pintle 24 into the position shown in Fig. 5. The binder now may be laid out flat as shown in Fig. 8, leaving the stacked sheets in a neat block fully accessible for removal or insertion of pages.

Let it be assumed, for example, that it is desired to remove a page about halfway down in the stack. Dividingr the stack at the desired page, the clerk lifts the upper hall` out of the binder while at the same time holdingr the upper leafretaining strip fill still in place on that half so that the downwardly projecting posts 40 serve to keep the removed sheets intact in a block. The upwardly projecting posts 38 of course serve to keep the remainingr sheets also intact in a block. The desired sheet now is removed from the. bottom of the upper block or the top of the lower block, as the case may be, whereupon the upper half of the stack is restored to place on the top. of the lower half; this is made easy by the fact that it has been impossible for any of y the sheets to become disarranged, and, consequently, all of they post holes in the lower half are so aligned as to facilitate reception of the downwardly projecting posts 4I] therein, the same being true of the holes in the upper half with respect to reception of the upwardly projecting posts 38.

When the stack is back together as shown in Fig. 8 following removal or addition of sheets; it usually is desired of course to again latch the upper leaf-retaining strip 44 to the back I0 of the. binder in order to restore the unit to. its bound book condition. To do this, it is only necessary toy swing the back I8 upwardly about its lower hinge, which may be accomplished simply by lifting cover I4 toward the position shown in Fig. 5; when strap I2 strikes the vertical flange of the leaf-retaining angle strip 44, this halts the upward movement of back I0, so the lifting force applied to the cover I4 nowI causes the latter to swing in an arcl about the upper hinge and fall flat on the upper face of the stack of sheets 36. In other words, the clerk merely moves cover I4 in the same fashion as it would normally be moved to close the book. As the cover descends to closed position over the stack of sheets, apertures 52 in the tubular housing i8 pass over studs 50, and the rounded heads of the studs exert a camming action on the latch bar as they enter slots 54, forcing the bar axially in the direction of arrow 34; then, as the descending bar cornes into register with grooves 50a in the studs, each of the detents 54a snaps into the corresponding groove under the influence of spring 32, latching the bar and the housing in which it is enclosed to the upper leaf-retaining angle strip as explained hereinbefore. The unit now is again in bound book condition, and if the front cover I4 is lifted, the latching elements will remain in engagement as shown in Fig. 4, unless and until such time as bar 26 once more is moved axially by manually pressing on the release tab 26a.

It should perhaps be pointed out that the momentary downward thrust exerted on the ends of the studs 50 by the latch bar 26 in the course of the foregoing latching operation produces a force tending to bow the associated leaf-retaining strip, but the flanged construction of the latter completely overcomes this tendency, Thus the axes of the upright studs always remain parallel, even over a long period of relatively rough service, and the grooves 56a in the studs always remain in the same plane so they can unfailingly receive the coplanar detents 54a.

Returning briefly to Fig. 5 and assuming for the moment that cover I4 is in the course of being swung over to lie on the top of the stacked sheets 36 for the purpose of restoring the binder to its bound book condition, it will be seen that if the back of the binder is not brought all the way up to a vertical position (that is to say, if strap I2 does not engage the vertical face of the upper leaf-retaining yangle 44) before the cover is allowed to turn clockwise about the upper hinge, slot 54 will not be in exact register with stud 5f! when the cover descends onto the top of the stacked sheets. Notwithstanding this, unless the operator has been exceedingly careless and the misalignment or lateral displacement of the slots relative to the studs is very considerable, the latching action will take place as just described; in other words, it is not an essential prerequisite to satisfactory operation that the parts be in very exact register, inasmuch as the rounded head of each stud 50 makes it serve as a centering pin, drawing the slot 54 into proper register as the bar descends over the studs.

However, in connection with the foregoing phase of operation, it is an important feature of my invention to make the aperture 52 in the tubular latch bar housing as wide as the bar itself. Thus, it will be seen from Fig. 7 that this aperture is laterally elongated so that the full width of the bar is exposed at the point opposite each stud 59. The importance of this detail will perhaps be best understood by visualizing what would happen on closing of the binder if aperture 52 were, for example, made round and only large enough to ladmit the stud 50; in such event, it will be plain that if each aperture were not preliminarily aligned very accurately with the stud, the facial portion of the housing I8 beside the aperture would, due to the misalignment, be brought down forcibly on the end of the stud and. under pressure, would be permanently dented or bent inwardly against bar 26, frictionally binding the latter against axial movement and rendering the mechanism defective. My construction avoids all possibility of this happening, because, by elongating aperture 52 laterally so it exposes the full width of bar 26, I eliminate that part of the housing I8 which might otherwise be dented inwardly or bent by the stud 50 as the result of careless closing of the binder. To repeat, then, the operation of relatching my binder in order to restore same to bound book condition presents no difficult problem of critically `aligning the parts--rst, because no damage can possibly be done to the parts as a result of imperfect alignment and, second, because the centering action of the studs 5U as they enter slots 54 will automatically correct the alignment if any correction is required.

While the foregoing description has dealt with the matter of latching and unlatching the upper leaf-retaining strip 44, it will be apparent that what has been said is equally applicable to the lower leaf-retaining strip 42, inasmuch as this may be latched and released at will in identical fashion.

As `a matter of fact, occasions frequently arise in practice which make it very desirable to unlatch both leaf-retaining strips at the same time. For example, referring to Fig. 8, let it be assumed that instead of wanting merely to remove or insert a single page or group of pages, the clerk desires to transfer all of the sheets 36 in a group from the binder shown to another binder of like character. Without disturbing the upper angle strip 44 and without touching the sheets, the clerk can shift the lower latching bar 26 axially to release the lower angle strip 42 and then lift up on the latter strip-which will, of course, raise the rear edge of the block of sheets with the strip 44 still resting on the upper margin of the block. Substituting her hand for the back of the binder, she now can grip the two angle strips between her thumb and fingers in such fashion as to press the strips toward one another and thus clamp the rear edge of the block of sheets tightly between the strips. None of the sheets can slip from between the retaining strips since they arey of course, all still impaled upon the posts extending from one strip to the other, so the block of sheets may easily be transferred from place'to place without danger of becoming disarranged, merely by holding the angle strips rmly in place on the block as it is carried. While the strips are thus gripped in one hand, it also is possible with the other hand to riiiie through the pages and examine entries on any desired page without any difficulty whatever; in other words, even when they are out of the binder, the sheets may still be used as a hand-held book without any loss of utility, and such use can result in no disarrangement of the pages.

The binder which is to receive the block of sheets and its accompanying leaf -retaining strips, is laidout flat as shown in Fig. 8 and the block is deposited therein in the position illustrated. This causes the downwardly projecting studs 50 on the lower angle strip 42 to pass through the apertures 52 in the lower latch bar housing 2D andV on entering the slots 54 in the latch bar to displace the bar momentarily in an endwise direction, with the result that the lower strip 42 automatically becomes latched in the binder. Then by lifting cover I4 upwardly as illustrated in Fig. 5 and swinging it over to lie fiat on the top of the block of stacked sheets, the upper leaf-retaining strip et automatically becomes latched in the binder, all as explained hereinbefore.

In connection with the latter operation, it may be well noted at this point that the smooth and foolproof manner in which the latching of my binder is eiected in every instance without fail, stems to a very considerable extent from the construction and cooperative arrangement embodied in my leaf-retaining angles and their associated leaf-impaling posts. Bearing in mind that posts 38 are rigid with the angle 42 and posts 40 are rigid with angle 44, it Will be seen that when the centering pins 48 on each angle strip are inserted in the sockets 46 of the posts on the other strip, this assembly will form a fairly rigid frame even without any sheets iml paled upon the posts. However, when the stack of sheets 3E is added as shown in the drawings, the frame for all practical purposes becomes absolutely rigid in that it is quite impossible for a the longitudinal axes of strips 42 and 44 to be out of parallelism even to a slight degree, or for the horizontal faces of the strips to be anything but perfectly parallel, or for the vertical faces of the strips to be anything but coplanar; at the same time it is virtually impossible for the stack of sheets to avoid. being not only a block but a perfectly rectangular block.

This combination of circumstances is not brought about solely by the aligning effect of the posts which extend through the post holes in the sheets but rather is the product of said aligning effect acting in concert with the squarmv ing effect produced on the stack. by the vertical flanges of the respective leaf-retaining strips abutting the edges of approximately fifty of the outermost sheets of the stack. It will be noted that the pin and socket joints (46, 48) between the upper and lower halves of the aforementioned frame--the only points at which relative movement between the two halves of the frame could take place-all are located within the outer fifty-sheet regions and thus are well guarded against such relative movement by the vertical flanges abutting the edges of the sheets. In addition to the reinforcing and steadying effect the flanges thus have upon the frame at the only critical points therein, is the squaring and stabilizing effect they exert upon the outermost sheets themselves. Forces tending to disturb the rectangular formation of the stacked sheets ordinarily act first on the outermost sheets of the stack, so the aforementioned flanges again protect the region which is most critical from the latter standpoint.

Now, I am well aware that in connection with binders of the loose post type, it sometimes has been the practice in the past to employ angle strips extending along the upper and lower cor ners of the block of stacked sheets, these strips having perforations coinciding with the punched holes in the sheets to permit the posts to extend loosely therethrough. Such arrangements quite obviously do not achieve the same beneficial result as my angle strips, for they have no discernible stabilizing effect, either upon' the posts and associated binder parts nor' upon the sheets within the binder; to the best of my' knowledge, my concept of rigidly integrating the posts and angle strips in the manner and for' the purposes indicated is entirely unique in the art.

As previously suggested, the foregoing feature is very important because of the contribution it makes to the ease with which the binder may be restored to bound book condition after the cover has been unlatched to remove sheets, add sheets or the like. After the desired pagechange has been made, the clerk' is not required to take any special pains in order to be sure that the sheets are in a rectangular block and the upper leaf-retaining strip is properly oriented to carry out the latching operation; they simply cannot be otherwise. Referring to Fig. 5, for example, exhaustive tests have shown that it is impossible, even if an effort is made to do so, to percep'tibly displace any part of the stacked sheets fromthe position shown by the applica'- ticn of a lateral or diagonal force in any direction to the stack or part thereof; so also is it impossible even by deliberate efforts to shift the upper leaf-retaining strip 44 laterally or diag'- onally to a suflicient extent to impair the smooth and automatic latching of the strip when the cover I4 is swung around on the upper hinge and dropped onto the top face of the block of stacked sheets. The construction and arrangement of my angle strips and leaf-impaling posts positively insures that studs 50 are always without fail in the correct position to enter the latch bar housing and engage the latch bar properly; so foolproof in this regard is my unit that no skill or experience watever is required on the part of the clerk.

By latching the binder directly to my rigid sheet-holding frame in the manner described, I eliminate substantially all of the difficulties that heretofore have been present in conventional loose post binders. In the latter, the posts are separately and independently hinged to the f binder by renovable pintles, and when the latter are Withdrawn, it is impossible to prevent twisting or shifting of the sheets inasmuch as all of the post play cannot be eliminated; this introduces an acute problem of aligning the posts preparatory to latching same to the binder. In addition to the simple and positive latching action I obtain, my arrangement has the additional advantage that it permits round hole drilling of the sheets in place of the slower punching operation necessary for the rectangular openings used in connection with conventional loose post binders. In other words, it reduces the time heretofore required for punching the sheets and achieves a consequent saving in the cost of the sheets. Moreover, in my arrangement the spacing of the studs 5l) is entirely independent of the spacing of the leaf-impaling posts so that in manufacture it is possible to standardize the latching mechanism despite variations in the post spacing embodied in binders of different size. The latter feature, of course, makes it possible to effect a considerable reduction in manufacturing costs.

Fig. 9 shows a somewhat modified form of latch mechanism employing a leaf-retaining angle strip 54, a tubular latch bar housing I8', and an4 elongate latch bar 26 which is spring biased in the direction of arrow 34, all as described hereinbefore. In the modified arrangement, however, each of the studs 50 secured to the angle strip is drilled transversely to form a hole or socket 50 adapted to receive a tongue 54" which is integral with the latch bar and projects axially thereof into the slot 54". The tapered upper end of stud 50 preferably is grooved as shown at 5 i.

Except for the foregoing details, the binder employing my modified arrangement is exactly the same as the binder previously described, so its mode of operation should be quite obvious.

When the cover is closed in order to restore the unit to bound book condition after the binder has been unlatched and opened to change pages therein, the tubular housing i3 travels in an arm 60 toward the upper face oi the angle member M. As slot 5d passes over the stud 99', this roughly aligns bar 26 laterally with respect to the stud and causes the tongue til to engage groove 5i in the tapered end of the stud. This centers the tongue directly over the mouth of hole El!" and as the latch bar continues to move downwardly, tongue 54 slides down the inclined groove, shifting the bar axially against the tension of its biasing spring until the tongue registers with hole 59, whereupon it snaps into the hole, locking the members together. To unlatch the binder, bar 26 is shifted against the tension of its biasing spring (i e., reverse to the direction indicated by arrow 34) by manually pressing on the release tab 2te at the end of the bar as explained hereinbefore.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the appended claim.

Inasmuch as various modiiications of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In a loose-leaf binder, a leaf-receiving frame comprising a pair of parallel strips each having a set of leaf-impaling posts rigidly secured thereto, the posts of each strip projecting toward the other strip, means on each strip cooperating with each post of the opposite strip for engaging said posts for maintaining said posts and strips in alignment and for maintaining the posts of the respective sets in parallelism and for maintaining the strips at a predetermined minimum distance apart, a pair of catch studs on each strip projecting outwardly from said frame, at least one of said studs on each strip having a camming surface, a pair oi elongate housings each having a pluraiity of aligned apertures therein to receive the studs oi one strip, a spring-biased latching mechanism in each housing normally engaged with the received in that housing thereby to releasably latch the housing to the strip in parallel superposed relation thereto, said latching mechanism having a surface to cooperate with said carnming surface to move said latching mechanism, a binder back normally positioned adjacent said strips, front and rear covers overlying said housings, hinge means connecting each said front and rear cover and its associated housing to a corresponding longitudinal edge of said back on a single axis, spring means biasing each housing on its hinge toward its respective cover for engagement with the inside of its respective cover when unlatched from the strip thereby to free that hinge from the frame and permit the back to swing away from said strips, said back upon being returned to its position adjacent said strips being effective to preposition the free hinge so that closing of the binder cover carried by that hinge will rotate the unlatched housing maintained thereagainst on said hinge and automatically bring the apertures in said housing into register with the exposed studs on said frame, said latching mechanism in each housing being self-actuating to seize the studs automatically upon their entry into the associated housing via said apertures.

CHARLES HOWARD LOCKWOOD.

iteierenees Cited in the nle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,376,360 Stuart Sept. 6, 1932 1,909,320 Unger May 16, 1933 1,914,968 Brown June 20, 1933 1,954,265 Schade Apr. 10, 1934 2,096,701 Thomson Oct. 19, 1937 2,168,802 Newland Aug. 8, 1939 2,315,303 Unger Mar. 30, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 247,005 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1947 

